The Role of the Prophet
"Truth-telling" not "fortune-telling," is required of us all.
It’s fitting that I’m in Albuquerque to visit Father Richard Rohr today to discuss his new book, The Tears of Things: Prophetic Wisdom for an Age of Outrage, which comes out next month. And this feels both fitting, and well prophetic—at least in the context under which we understand the word, which is that a prophet is speaking on behalf of the divine. The etymology is pro (before/toward) and phesein (to tell), or foretell…but that’s not really how the Jewish prophets functioned. They weren’t oracles or “fortune tellers” so much as they were “truth tellers,” which inherently made them aligned with God—so long as they were aligned with the whole truth, and not their preferred version of it. The Jewish prophets chose truth over convenience. And they were certainly not incentivized by personal gain or glory. Quite the contrary. They operated as insider/outsiders who were not afraid to criticize and push their own tribes and groups, point out hypocrisy, illuminate conflicted morality and conflicts of interests, and warn. As Rohr writes of prophets: “They are not seeking fame or fortune, or they would not be prophets. They will never be mainstream; they will always be a remnant. But it is their message that they care about, not their reputation or their comfort.”
Historically, prophets were murdered as compensation for their service. (And then, of course, there’s Jesus.)
Rohr makes a point to distinguish between “Priests” and “Prophets”: Priests, are inclined to speak on behalf of their own group in judgment of the “other”; Prophets take on their own group, willing it to open its eyes to reality, see and contend with what’s true, move toward painful growth, and expand. This prophetic function could not have been more important, holding the order and disorder together. As Rohr writes, “In this way, they introduced a completely novel role into ancient religion: an officially licensed critic, a devil’s advocate who names and exposes their own group’s dark side! Few cultures, if any, develop such a counterintuitive role. By nature, civilization is intent on success and building, and has little time for self-critique. We disparage the other team and work ceaselessly to prove loyalty to our own.”
As we’re seeing writ large across our political landscape, it does not feel as though we have many true prophets—those willing to critique their own group or stand against them in honor of a larger and more loving truth. Instead, it feels like Congress, which is supposed to represent the will of all of us, and our varied interests, has sacrificed its power to party lines. No dissension. No break in ranks. No solid spines. (For more: “The Difference Between Integrity and Reputation.”) We are operating in a polarized binary, despite the fact that most Americans are somewhere in the middle. It feels like we are trapped and largely voiceless…even as voicemail boxes are crammed full. This is not how our three-pronged, ternary government is supposed to function.
We love to critique the other—we are so good at it. But far too few of us are willing to hold ourselves, and each other, in full. It’s been an interesting experience to be on social media of late, which is full of false prophets left and right. You can’t be a prophet, after all, if your intent is to serve yourself. We see false prophets in the news, driving outrage to increase influence. We see false prophets among #MakeAmericaHealthyAgain wellness influencers claiming to be “truth tellers”—though the truth is always about the other, and they all have so much to gain, whether its sales of their own products, services, or courses, or just the amalgamation of INFLUENCE in a world where influence increasingly wins. Influence right now is synonymous with power. (Since we’re on the subject of Jesus, don’t forget that Jesus only had 12 followers. 12.)
In our world, where our attention goes, money flows: There’s never been a better business than manufacturing fear and outrage, all under the auspices of everything being a deep state conspiracy, or corrupt, or wholesale wrong in a way that only you understand. This is not prophetic. It is profiteering.
A prophet does the opposite—works against their own self-interest in service to a larger whole. It is quite radical. It is rare. And I love this very subtle point from Rohr as well: “A prophet does not need to push the river of her ideas too feverishly, because she knows the source of the river is beyond her.”
Rohr writes a lot about the naming of his center in Albuquerque, which is the Center for Action & Contemplation. Action, in his world, comes first, which feels particularly prophetic in this age where so many of us are keyboard warriors who have no real experience of the world. As he writes, “Action comes before contemplation because you do not have anything to contemplate until you have acted in the world and recognized that the real issues are difficult to resolve—tied up in deep motivations like identity, power, and money.”
The Tears of Things: Prophetic Wisdom for an Age of Outrage lights me up, in part because it synchronizes so much of Rohr’s wisdom—and also because I feel a little called out myself. I think a lot about influence and information and when it’s appropriate to profit or not; I wrestle with this constantly in my work…how to make a living from writing without feeling like I’m enslaving myself to a hunt for influence in the process. Stoking outrage is cheap. So is finding people “out there” to rail against and blame. It’s not surprising that this becomes so many peoples’ entire content strategy.
There is no doubt that this is one of the major soul tests of our time: How to withstand the projections of others and the corruption of attention…it is far too easy for people to flip upside down, where they’re far more concerned about appealing to their audience, an audience that might be paying their rent, than speaking the truth. I watch this in myself intently. I always think about what Carissa says: “Your vibration must be higher than what you create, otherwise you cannot manage it.” There are a lot of people out there who cannot manage what they’ve created, particularly because what they’ve created is staked on fear, outrage, propaganda, and conspiracy.
Before I go, I want to leave you with other watch-outs from Rohr: “When we want to know if a prophet is mature, we can look for other qualities. Does the prophetic teacher need to be right, need badly to win the argument, or desire to humiliate the opposition? If so, the ego is likely running the show. What are their foundational sources? Current political correctness? Liberal or conservative agenda? Or prophets, saints, and peacemakers? Jesus or John Wayne? What is the final goal of their moral or political position? Are they lost in rage, or do they have any space between themselves and their messages? Are they over-identified with the truth or absoluteness of their own opinions? These are the concerns of a spiritually discerning person that help us sense and recognize the difference between a mere zealot and the much purer motivations and final goals of one who is doing God’s work and not just their own.”
Amen.
So many lines in here to quote! It feels like there are very few principled people left. It’s comforting to come to these small corners of the Internet and find some truth.
Beautiful message and reflections in these times. Just reserved a couple of his books based on your post. Thank you.